1. The European Agenda for Culture The Structured dialogue with civil society through the Platform Access to Culture

2. A new EU narrative? José Manuel Barroso: "In the hierarchy of values, the cultural ones range above the economic” 2004, Berliner Konferenz

3. European Agenda for Culture May 2007: adoption and publication by the European Commission of a Communication on Culture (first long-term strategy for culture at European level) 26/27 September 2007: first European Cultural Forum followed by an Informal Council meeting (Lisbon, Portugal). December 2007: adoption by the European Council of Ministers of Culture of a European Agenda for Culture based on the proposals made by the EC in its Communication February 2008: Call for participating in three platforms: Access to Culture, Cultural Industries, Intercultural Dialogue – open until 15 April May 2008 : adoption of the Council work plan 2008-2010 (including OMC working groups) June 2008: first meetings of the platforms for a structured dialogue with civil society

4. Amazing! For the first time we have… A well developed EU policy document about the role of culture in the EU Open Method of Coordination in the field of culture Structured dialogue with the cultural sector Political reluctance possibly decreasing??

5. New instruments The Open Method of Coordination (OMC) flexible cooperation framework in which Member States engage on a voluntary basis used in policy fields where the EU has weak or complementary competence (youth, social affairs, education) based on soft law mechanisms such as guidelines and indicators, benchmarking and sharing of best practice; effectiveness relies on peer pressure

6. OMC working groups and methodology In its 2008-2010 work plan, the Culture Council decided to set up OMC working groups on : ･ the mobility of artists and other professionals ･ the mobility of collections ･ stronger synergies between culture and education ･ EUROSTAT statistical working group on culture ･ cultural and creative industries New instruments

7. Dialogue with the sector To involve the cultural sector in the development of the European Agenda for Culture, the EC decided to set up a framework of ‘structured dialogue’ with civil society organisations made of 3 thematic platforms: 1. Rainbow Platform for Intercultural Dialogue (since 2006) 2. Platform ‘Access to Culture’ 3. Platform ‘Cultural and Creative industries’ New instruments

8. The two new platforms Following a call for expressions of interest, the EC selected 39 and 33 organisations respectively to participate in the new platforms. Only non-governmental cultural organisations with a trans-national or European dimension qualified.

9. The task we were given… “The platforms are expected to produce policy recommendations to be discussed with the broader culture sector during a large-scale Cultural Forum in September/October 2009”

10. Access to Culture: How the Council defines it Council endorsement of the Agenda for Culture (Council Document 14485/07 - CULT56) under these terms ‘the following actions will be pursued…promoting access to culture in particular through the promotion of cultural heritage, multilingualism, digitisation, cultural tourism, synergies with education, especially art education and greater mobility of collections.’

11. Access to Culture: How the Commission defines it (call for interest April 2008) Objective:  wider digitization of cultural content  the use of internet  cultural tourism  giving all citizens access to the cultures of other countries as part as an endeavour to promote cultural diversity and intercultural dialogue Target groups: young people, new audiences Tools: free access, vouchers

12. The Right to Access Culture: We all agree! Access to Culture is placed in the heart of democratic principles of freedom It comes from a human primary right, see Universal Declaration of Human Rights Numerous treaties and Declarations refer to it Article 151 of the European treaty

13. The freedom of choice... A choice necessitates - The creation of options of creation and creativity - A public which has access to the choices - A public that is educated sufficiently to analyse and exercise its choices

14. ...translated into the Platform’s working process Three thematic working groups  learning / education  Creativity / creation  participation / audience

15. Working rational: a bottom-up approach  To excavate best practice on the ground  From this to formulate general principles of good practice  To integrate these principles into other policy instruments  To develop a general political justification for Access to Culture as a core element of future cultural policy.

16. State of Play of the 3 working groups: A Start Learning / Education  aims to explore the benefits of a closer synergy between education (formal, non- formal, informal) and culture with a set of recommendations based on the concept of the Key Competences for Lifelong Learning

17. State of Play of the 3 working groups: A Start Participation / Audiences  Aims that audience participation be positioned as a core part of Europe’s Creative Ecology, i.e. audience participation is one of the basic inputs/foundations of the entire creative and cultural environment.

18. State of Play of the 3 working groups: A Start Creativity / Creation  Aims to advocate for the best possible conditions for artistic creation, to ensure access for all to the creative process and to explore the creativity of the arts sector within the wider ‘creativity and innovation’ discourse

19. The Paper roadmap… 1. Work on recommendations until next plenary Platform meeting in early March 2009 2. Presentation of Platform Paper 1 (Introduction, Set of recommendations, annexes (glossary, working group reports, best practices, bibliography, organisations involved etc) 3. Further refinement of recommendations until Culture Forum, September 2009 4. Further work presented at Culture Forum Brussels, September 2010

20. What we aim at: constant consultation and broad dissemination Work on bottom-up approach within the working groups Work on consultation, interaction process with OMC (regular meetings in 2009) Work on dialogue process with 2 other platforms Work on information and dissemination process (transparency and inclusion)

21. Access to culture: our challenges Access to Culture is not an objective of the European Agenda for Culture. No clear policy reference: concept neither defined nor subject to legislation, nor well-researched Except on education issues, no direct counterparts in the OMC process. Who are we talking to? Commission, member states, regional/local authorities, others? What are the respective policy fields: culture? Enlargement? education? Citizenship? Regional policies? Structural policies? Social affairs? Foreign Affairs? Transport… Cross-sectorial group of participants: how to find a common denominator, yet not superficial?

22. Conclusions Is the European cultural sector ready for this? How will the contact between platforms and OMC be established? How much room for transparency and inclusion left? Need for evidence-based recommendations – but no time? Who can we address: EU, OMC working groups, foundations, the Council of Europe, MEPs, CCPs, focus groups, individuals - also non-cultural players, the press...? Will anybody listen? Who will listen? Spin-off for the next EU budget? Spin-off for next Generation programmes? Culture programme, others?

23. Thank you for your attention! Kathrin Deventer Secretary General European Festivals Association kathrin@efa-aef.eu This presentation owes thanks to Culture Action Europe Association Européenne des Conservatoirs